Tōtsuki Culinary Academy
Tōtsuki Tea Ceremony and Cooking Academy (遠月茶寮料理学園 Tōtsuki Saryōryōri Gakuen) or Tōtsuki Culinary Academy in short, is a famous international culinary school in Tokyo, Japan which trains the students to become top chefs. This academy is the main setting of Shokugeki no Soma, where the main protagonist, Sōma Yukihira, embarks on his journey to become the best chef in the world. Description standing just outside of the academy gates]] Tōtsuki Culinary Academy is an illustrious cooking academy that is well known in the culinary industry. Due to the caliber and notoriety of the school, nearly all aspiring chefs must attend the school in order to become high class chefs. Parents have been known to beg officials to accept their children, even offering their life savings to have their child attend, though all offers are turned down. Students are only accepted after passing an entrance exam, requiring them to prepare a dish under a specific theme and pass the exam proctor's judgment. The academy accepts students starting from the middle school section. If they show acceptable merit in their school work, they will move on to the high school section. As a privately owned academy, the school board may expel students if their work does not meet their expectations, though it is uncommon for a student to be expelled in middle school. The last opportunity for a student to enter the academy is right before the High School spring first semester, after which no new applicants for a class will be accepted. The high school section of Tōtsuki is a much more rigorous and cutthroat as the expulsion rate raises exponentially. According to the director of the academy, Senzaemon Nakiri, of the one thousand students present at the start of their high school first year, about one hundred will remain to advance in the second year, and less than ten will graduate by the end of their third. Nearly every failing grade is almost guaranteed to result in immediate expulsion and numerous mandatory class events are designed to whittle down the class and eliminate any students without great potential. Curriculum still contains basic high school level classes like math and writing, but the main focus is on culinary studies ranging from international cuisine styles and culinary theories. Students are expected to learn the technical side of cooking through bookwork and the practical side through hands on cooking assignments and events. However, in terms of actual ending goals, students are encouraged to develop their own style or cooking forte and push it to the maximum limits. Thus most students who graduate are masters of their specialty. Extra curricular activities exist for students such as the Newspaper Club and numerous Research Societies (RS) to further their knowledge of cooking and other side activities. The most notable club being the Elite Ten Council, who is the internal affairs council run by the ten best students in the academy. Entry into the Elite Ten is highly coveted but is extremely hard to join. However, as of Chapter 139, all clubs other than the Elite Ten have been dissolved under Azami Nakiri's new curriculum. The last notable feature to the academy is their formal cooking duels, the Shokugeki. These are intense cooking battles between two or more students to settle an issue with the winner having all conditions they declared for their victory immediately met. The conditions and results of a Shokugeki are absolute. New Curriculum As of Chapter 139, Tōtsuki's original cutthroat style of education was abandoned by Azami Nakiri when he took the helm of Director of Tōtsuki. Believing that the old style of Tōtsuki was unfit to truly bring out the best in the students to become chef, Azami styled the school to become focused on giving everyone an equal education rather than a more specialized on in the past. Azami and The Elite Ten select members of the school to become a part of Central, who decides what dishes the students of the academy should learn to cook. This allows all students to potentially learn how to cook Elite Ten level dishes. As a result, creativity is suppressed and students are not allowed to cook anything that is not dictated by Central. To reinforce this, all Research Societies and Seminar classes were dissolved. Though students will not be expelled from school for poor performances, they will be expelled should they choose not to participate or if they lost a Shokugeki with expulsion as a stipulation. Uniform The standard school uniform consists of a navy blue blazer that has white borders on its pockets and lapels, and a white collared shirt that is generally worn underneath. The plaid short skirt worn by females are dark and light brown with white outlines, while the pants worn by males are navy blue. They wear a diagonally striated red violet and blue bow and tie, respectively. Finally, most of the students also wear black loafers with socks or tights. During the summer, students tend to wear the white colored shirts without the blazer. The school is not to strict with the uniforms as some students wear their own undershirts such as Sōma Yukihira and Rindō Kobayashi. The majority of the students wear the same cooking uniforms, made up of a white chef shirt and pants, presumably for the sake of hygiene. As for gym uniforms, the students wear a loose white t-shirt with dark borders around their collar and the rim of their sleeves, as well as a tag bearing their surname across the chest. They also wear dark-colored gym shorts, for ease of movement, and sneakers. For both uniforms, there are no apparent difference between genders. Additionally, given the situation or class, there are some students who either wear distinct variants of their uniform or sport a completely different outfit, implying that Tōtsuki Academy is lenient with their uniform regulations. Facilities Most of the school facilities have various workplaces as one for the practices for the students to cook the meals as a part of their homework, some of them are also served as the decoration of the academy. As a school, they naturally have classrooms and lecture halls, but they also possess several kitchens on the complex. Any student can use these kitchens, as long as they fill in an application and bring their own ingredients. *[[Shokugeki Arena|'Shokugeki Arena']] - This building is solely for cooking duels including most Shokugekis and the Autumn Elections. It is a large square performance facility that can house well over a thousand people in the stands with the cooking floor and judging area in the center of the stands. *'Elite Ten Council Building' - The Elite Ten Council uses this building to conduct their internal affairs evaluation. Each Elite Ten member has their own office to do their own private affairs as well. *[[Shiomi Seminar|'Shiomi Seminar']] - As a lecturer of her own seminar on spices, Jun was given a small annex building for her to research spices as well as teach her class. She cultures almost all known spices with her assistant, Akira Hayama. However, this seminar was abolished, as a result of Azami's new curriculum. *'Tōtsuki Library' - Tōtsuki has a library filled with numerous academic and scientific books as well as cooking novels. It is the base for [[Miyazato Seminar|'Miyazato Seminar']]. Residences *[[Polar Star Dormitory|'Polar Star Dormitory']] - The only on campus dormitory. It is home to the main protagonist of the story, Sōma Yukihira, and some of his friends. *'Nakiri Mansion' - The mansion owned by the Nakiri family. It is home to all Nakiri relatives on campus and any of their assistants. Events *'Shokugeki' - The Shokugeki is the formal cooking duels of the campus. These are done to settle debates, where victory means that all conditions set are immediately carried out. *'Tōtsuki Friendship and Rapport Training Camp' - The first class whittling event that all Tōtsuki students participate in during the spring of their first year at Tōtsuki Resort. The Tōtsuki Academy Alumni are brought in to teach and supervise the event and also to help whittle down the students. *'Tōtsuki Autumn Election' - The Tōtsuki Board selects 40 first-year students while the Elite Ten Council fills in 20 more to participate in this event. The students selected participate in a tournament-styled election where the winner of the event has the opportunity to enter the Elite Ten Council. *'Stagiaire' - The first-years spend several days at several culinary locations including restaurants, food suppliers, and cafeterias, working as interns at these locations. Students are required to make visible accomplishments at the locations they are assigned to or face expulsion. *'Autumn Leaf Viewing' - A Tōtsuki Culinary Academy social event. The first-year students mingle with the second and third-year students. The most prominent first-years are also formally introduced to the current Elite Ten Council members. *'Moon Banquet Festival' - An annual Tōtsuki Culinary Academy event. Students are invited to set up a booth to demonstrate their cooking to customers for a period of five days. Anthem ''The following is the official anthem of Tōtsuki Culinary Academy:''Shokugeki no Soma chapter 124, page 15 In the land of Rising Sun's bosom, in high spirits, tusks gather. Looking up at the summit of food, alas, it's time to rouse yourself. Hone yourself, hone yourself. The holy land of gourmet food Tōtsuki Academy is here. Under the moon far away in the sky, it's time for the true ordeal. Oh youngsters, serve meals on the table. Alas, it's time to fire up. Make them yield, make them yield. The military rule of gourmet food, Tōtsuki Academy is here. Clubs Culinary Research Societies Non-Cooking Clubs References Category:Tōtsuki Culinary Academy Category:Location